Turner is coming off a year where he led the Falcons in rushing, but only had 800 yards on 222 carries (3.6 avg) and 10 touchdowns. For his career, Turner played five seasons with the Falcons, rushing for 6,081 yards and 60 touchdowns, placing him second all-time on the team’s rushing yards list, and first on rushing touchdowns. Turner was the Falcons first major move of the Dimitroff-Smith Era back in 2008, being signed by the team at the start of free agency. He proved to be the foundation of the Falcons offense for the next three years, but with the continued growth of Matt Ryan and the Falcons passing game began to take a backseat on offense in 2011. That ultimately culminated with a 2012 season where many believed that his backup, Jacquizz Rodgers was the better option in the starting lineup. The Falcons freed up about $6 million in cap space by cutting Turner.

Robinson had a bit of a resurgent year in 2012 after struggling in 2011. But he still had issues in coverage, despite being able to make more plays vs. the run and as a blitzer off the edge. Robinson was signed by the Falcons in 2010 to one of the biggest contracts given to a corner. He was expected to be a No. 1 corner for the team, helping solve the issues that plagued a porous secondary in recent years. But in 2010, Brent Grimes emerged as the team’s de facto top corner, and Robinson had mediocre production. Grimes is now a free agent, and the potential of his return is possibly helped by Robinson’s release. Previous reports indicated that the Falcons would free up roughly $6 million by releasing Robinson, although Ledbetter indicates that number is closer to $4 million.

Abraham first joined the Falcons in 2006, when the team parted ways with their No. 1 pick to acquire him from the New York Jets. His first year in Atlanta was an injury-plagued season where he only played in 8 games. He rebounded the following year, and led the team in sacks both in 2007 (10 sacks) and 2008 (16.5). He had a down 2009 season where he only had 5.5 sacks, but bounced back in 2010 with a 13-sack season, once again being the leader on the team. He has led the team in each of the past two seasons. Over seven years in Atlanta, Abraham has collected a total of 68.5 sacks, which ranks only behind Claude Humphrey on the team’s all-time list. Ledbetter indicates the Falcons freed up nearly $6 million in cap space by cutting Abraham.

It’s possible that the Falcons could re-sign any of the trio back to much cheaper deals. Although one could expect all three players will test the market in order to see where their statuses lie. Given his recent production, it would seem likely Abraham probably stands the best odds to sign a lucrative deal elsewhere. The Falcons have been linked to a number of potential free agents that could be replacements for either.